Before the Dawn- Dawn's there the whole time AU
by Unproductive-Fangirl
Summary: You ever think about the fact that all of the characters remember seasons 1 through 4 differently than how we saw them on the show? I do. A lot. So I decided to rewrite some of the episodes that I thought would change most drastically with Dawn there. Some of these will just be one or two scenes, some fully episodes. My plan is for each episode I do to be a chapter.
1. Welcome to the Hellmouth

"Buffy?"

Sighing Buffy opened her eyes, just looking up at the ceiling for a long moment. She didn't want to get up. Not that her dream had been any good, but it had to be better than what awaited her outside. The first day at a new high school. Fantastic.

Still, before her mom could call for her again, Buffy sat up. "I'm up mom!"

"Don't want to be late for your first day!"

The reply came almost immediately, and Buffy had just enough time to mutter "No, wouldn't want that-" before her mother's voice came again.

"And wake up your sister please, breakfast is almost ready!"

"Great, new school and I get the pleasure of waking up Dawn," Buffy muttered, but pushed herself out of bed. At least she would be able to steal the bathroom before Dawn this morning which would be good. A ten year old really didn't have to "get ready" for school anyway, right? Dawn just needed to get dressed and brush her teeth.

Taking a deep breath Buffy knocked on Dawn's door before pushing it open and leaning in the doorway "Dawn come on, time to get up and actually start our lives in Sunnydale. Wouldn't want to miss out on that."

There was a groan from the bed, but Dawn didn't get up, just turned over in bed. Likely awake but determined to pretend she wasn't.

"Mom said breakfast is almost ready. First day of school usually means pancakes. I guess if you don't want to wake up I'll just have to eat all of them."

"Okay, okay I'm up," Dawn pushed herself up and swung her legs out of bed.

"Good, I'll see you downstairs," Buffy smirked a bit, turning out of the doorway and down the hallway to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she returned to her room, raising an eyebrow when she saw Dawn already there "What are you doing in here?"

Dawn didn't look up from the box she was going through "I think some of my stuff got mixed in with yours. I can't find the sweater I wanted to wear."

"You're in fifth grade, just wear a cheesy t-shirt and everyone will love you," Buffy rolled her eyes and went over to another box "I need to change, you can wear your sweater a different day."

"I just want to look nice for my first day," Dawn replied "It's your fault that we had to move, the least you could do is help me find my sweater."

Buffy bit back a reply. Dawn was right. She was the reason they'd had to move. "Alright, which box do you think it's in?"

"Girls? Hurry up, breakfast is ready and you don't want to be late!"

The car came to a stop in front of Sunnydale High School. Dawn watched as older kids walked past the window, not paying any attention to the car or the people inside. It was only when she heard the car door close that she looked back up at the front seats.

"Have a good time. I know you're going to make friends right away, just think positive," her mother said through the window, giving Buffy an awkward thumbs up, before adding "And honey? Try not to get kicked out?"

"Or blow up any more gyms," Dawn called from the back seat.

Joyce sighed, but Buffy just smiled a bit "I promise."

Then she turned to walk towards the school. It was only once the car was pulling away that Joyce spoke again "I would really appreciate it if you stopped doing that."

"Doing what?" Dawn asked, even though she was pretty sure she did know what the 'that' in question was.

"Making jokes and comment about what happened," suspicions confirmed than "I know you're upset about moving but your sister is having a hard time too, and she was going through a lot of stuff when it happened."

"Stuff that justifies burning down the school gym?"

"That's enough Dawn," Joyce sighed "I don't want you making jokes about it or telling Buffy it's her fault we moved anymore, understand?"

Dawn sighed, but nodded, knowing she wouldn't win. "Alright, no more gym jokes."

"Good," Joyce gave her a quick smile at the stop light "Besides, I think this will be good for us. I'm sure this is a much safer and better town than LA."

"Yeah- I'm sure you're right."


	2. Angel

Note

(It is implied in season 5 that Dawn has never been left home alone before, but that seems pretty impossible to me, especially considering Joyce doesn't know that Buffy has to go out at night. I think it was probably the writers not thinking it all through, and so have opted to ignore it.)

 **Angel**

Dawn looked up as she heard the front door open. Normally that wouldn't really warrant worrying about, but she also heard loud voices, followed by the door slamming harder than normal. Frowning, she set the pencil down, and pushed herself up.

By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs whoever had been in the hall was gone. A quick glance told her there was none in the living room, so instead she headed towards the kitchen "Buffy? Mom?"

There was noise from the kitchen. Dawn stopped in the doorway, taking in the boy in the middle of desperately pulling on a shirt, and Buffy shoving him towards the basement door. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, go back to your room," Buffy replied, turning away from the boy to face Dawn while he finished pulling on his shirt.

"Are you sneaking a boy in? Because you're not doing a very good job of it," she couldn't help but smirk a bit as she said it. Buffy was actually doing an awful job given the shouting and the way the door had slammed. It's like she had wanted Dawn to come down and find her.

"None of your business," Buffy said evenly "Go back to your room."

"So this is the little sister then." He smiled a bit as he looked over at her.

Buffy sighed, but nodded a bit "Angel, this is my annoying little sister Dawn. Dawn, this is Angel."

Dawn grinned, but before she could say anything else the front door opened again. Immediately Buffy's voice lowered as she looked back at Dawn "Distract her. I'll buy you ice cream next time we go out or something."

"Two scoops, and you have to let me hang out with you and your friends."

"Brat," Buffy muttered, but nodded.

Grinning Dawn turned and headed towards the front room, turning the grin into a sweet smile when she saw her mom "Hey. Are you busy?"

"How about, hello mom, it's nice to see you, how was your night?" Joyce replied, though there was a small smile playing on her lips.

"Sorry. Hey mom, missed you tonight. How did it go?" Dawn shrugged as she watched her mother take off her coat and hang it up.

"It was a little overwhelming honestly. For such a small gallery it can really draw a crowd. I wasn't expecting Sunnydale to have such a big appreciation for art," Joyce looked back at her, and after a moment added "Alright, what do you want?"

"I just need help with my homework. Buffy was no use." Luckily she did actually have homework she hadn't done yet.

"Alright. Just let me make some tea and than I'll be up to help-"

"Right-" Dawn hesitated, trying to figure out how to stop her from going into the kitchen.

However, the hesitation seemed to do the job for her, as Joyce stopped and raised an eyebrow at her "What?"

"It's just- it's really long and I can't move on till I'm done with this problem. The longer I wait the longer it'll be till I'm done and can go to bed-" The reasoning came out before she could really think about it, but Dawn was rather proud of it.

"Alright," Joyce sighed, but turned away from the kitchen and towards the stairs "Let's take a look at it than."

"Thanks mom," Dawn smiled, and turned to run up the stairs ahead of her so she could pull out the homework that she had left.

She stalled with the homework for as long as she could, and ten minutes later Joyce was on her way back down to the kitchen to make tea. As soon as she was down the stairs Dawn was slipping out of her room and across the hall to Buffy's. Without knocking she pushed the door open "So did I do it or what? Totally distracted her for like ten whole minutes."

"Yes you did it," Buffy rolled her eyes, before pointing at the door "Now go away."

"That's all I get? Not even a thank you?" Dawn complained, and behind Buffy Angel seemed to be smirking a bit.

"You are getting ice cream and a hang out with my friends, so no you don't get a thank you."

"You know I could always go tell mom that your boyfriend is up here-"

"He's not my boyfriend," Buffy cut her off, before adding "And if you go tell her than the whole deals off, and I'll tell her you helped me."

"Fine," Dawn muttered, before looking over at Angel for a moment, than back to Buffy "Is he going to spend the night?"

"I'm going to sneak him out after mom goes to sleep. Now go."

Dawn was tempted to argue, but Buffy gave her a look that she knew meant her sister wouldn't budge. Sighing dramatically she turned and headed back out of the room. As she did she could hear Angel laughing a little, which just made her smirk.

 **(Jump to the next night, for some reason fanfiction won't let me just put a break here without text...)**

Dawn lurched to her feet. Someone had screamed. Was still screaming. Before she could think she was across the hall, throwing open the bedroom door, and flicking on the lights "Buffy?"

The screaming stopped. Buffy and Angel were next to the window, but something was wrong. Angel's face was messed up, and when he turned towards her he seemed to growl at the same time Buffy said "Dawn."

Then Angel was gone, and Buffy was looking back at the window he had gone through. Dawn just stayed frozen in the doorway, though a second later Joyce was there, moving past her to get into the room "Buffy what happened?"

"Uh- nothing- I saw a shadow," Buffy replied a little awkwardly.

That snapped Dawn out of it, and she took a step farther into the room "What? But-"

"It was nothing Dawn," Buffy repeated, voice snapping a bit more than she probably meant for it to, but as she looked over Dawn could see the seriousness in Buffy's eyes. She didn't push it.

Joyce glanced between them, before nodding a bit "Alright, if you're sure. Come on Dawn, you should be asleep and your sister could probably use some space."

Dawn looked at Buffy for another moment, before nodding and reluctantly going back to her room. She only stayed there till she was sure Joyce had gone to bed though, before carefully slipping out of bed across the hall.

This time she didn't just barge in, but instead reached up to gently knock on the door. For a few minutes she was worried that Buffy had somehow fallen asleep, but a moment later the door was open and Buffy was looking down at her. She sighed, before just stepping out of the way to let Dawn in.

Without prompting Dawn went over to sit on the bed, Buffy closing the door before going over to join her "I'm sorry for freaking you out Dawnie. I know hearing me scream in the middle of the night couldn't have been to comforting."

"Neither was coming in here to see Angel with his face all messed up and yellow eyes," She added, biting her lip as she looked over at Buffy, waiting for her to explain.

Buffy just sighed, reaching up to lightly move some hair off of Dawn's forehead "I'm sorry that you had to see that."

"But what was wrong with him? I mean- he looked normal yesterday-"

"It's complicated Dawnie," She sighed, looking over to meet her eyes for a moment "There's no way I can convince you to just forget about all of this and go to bed, is there?"

Dawn didn't actually bother to answer, just shook her head the slightest bit, making Buffy sigh again. Her sister seemed to debat for a long moment, before finally beginning to speak.

"The world is a lot more complicated than most people believe Dawnie. I don't want to scare you," Her voice was softer than Dawn thought she had ever heard it before, even when Buffy had gone to talk to her after they found out their parents were getting divorced. Honestly that scared Dawn more than what she had seen.

"I'm not scared," she lied, doing her best to hide the fact "I just want to know what's going on. I can handle it Buffy."

"I know you can." Despite her words, Buffy just looked over at her for a long moment, reaching up to run her hand through Dawn's hair again. Dawn could barely hear her when she finally spoke "Angel is a vampire. That's why his face got all bumpy and his eyes turned yellow."

"A vampire?" Dawn actually laughed. Buffy was acting all serious, this had to be some elaborate joke, right? Than she got herself together a bit "Come on, be serious. Why did his face get like that?"

"Dawn, I am serious." Her voice made Dawn look back at her again, and something in Buffy's eyes told her that he sister was in fact serious "Vampires are real, and Angel is one."

"I- v- vampires-" Dawn's voice shook a bit as she said it, and despite herself she did feel scared. Buffy couldn't be serious. Yet, everything about the way her sister was holding herself told her she was, and how else did you explain what had happened with Angel?

"Hey," Buffy rubbed her back a bit as she moved closer "It's alright. I know it seems scary, but you're safe. The safest person in the world from them actually."

"I- I am?" Dawn looked up at Buffy, wanting to believe her.

"Would I lie to you?"

"Yes."

"Okay, yeah I've lied to you, but not about this," Buffy gave her a small smile, and again, Dawn found herself believing her "See, along with vampires and monsters, comes heros. Or, one hero in particular. The Slayer, one girl selected out of everyone who has the power to fight them, and she happens to live just across the hall from you."

"You're the- the slayer?" Dawn asked, the word sounding odd. Honestly this all still sounded totally bizarre. A girl with the power to fight vampires? But then again, if she was willing to believe in vampires then why not that too?

"Yeah, and that comes with super strength, speed, reflexes- and a pretty cool teacher who helps me train to fight them," Buffy smiled a bit as she spoke "And I will never let anything happen to you. See, safest girl in the world."

"Right," Dawn nodded a bit, trying to sound reassured. It apparently didn't work, as a second later Buffy was hugging her tightly. Dawn didn't argue, just hugged her sister back for a moment.

When they pulled apart, Buffy softly added "And Dawnie- I know it's a lot to ask, but you can't tell mom alright? Adults are a lot less understanding about all of this than kids-"

"I'm not a kid," the response came out before Dawn could even think about it "And shouldn't she know? I mean, if we both tell her we saw it than she'll have to believe us-"

"She'll just think I'm putting ideas in your head," Buffy sighed, shaking her head a bit "Please Dawnie, we can't tell her. She won't believe us."

"Why not?" Dawn insisted, shaking her head to "You don't know she won't."

"Do you remember last year when I went away for a bit?" Buffy waited for Dawn to nodded before she went on "Well I wasn't visiting Aunt Darlene like we told you. That's around when I found out about all of this, and I did try to tell mom and dad. They thought I was nuts, talking about vampires and mystical forces. So they sent me to see someone to try and help."

"They sent you away because you told them about all of this?" Dawn frowned "But you were telling the truth-"

"I know, but they didn't. Don't worry, they thought they were doing what was best for me, so don't be mad at them or anything," Buffy gave her a small smile "But we can't tell her okay? If she finds out, she might try to send me to get help again, and then I won't be able to protect you. Or her- or the rest of Sunnydale for that matter."

Slowly Dawn nodded a bit, not really sure what else to say to that. When she did speak her voice was as soft as Buffy's had been. "Okay-"

"Good," Buffy leaned over, kissing the top of Dawn's head lightly, before nudging her shoulder "Go on, you should sleep. It's been a long night."

"Right," Dawn hesitated though, before looking back at Buffy "Could I sleep in here tonight? I can stay on the floor- and I promise I'll get up early enough to go back to my room before mom wakes up."

Buffy smiled a bit "Yeah, we can do that. There's probably even enough room on the bed for both of us."


	3. Prophecy Girl

**Prophecy Girl**

It had been a long time since Buffy had actually looked through the photo albums that her mom had taken so much time to put together over the years. In recent years, with everything that was going on, the habit had died off, but it seemed like everything from the time Buffy was born till around the age of fourteen was documented with great detail.

"What are you looking at?"

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?" Buffy asked on instinct, sighing as she looked up at Dawn, though the annoyance quickly died away.

"You're door was open," Dawn shrugged, entering the room and moving over to look without prompting. Buffy just moved over to let her sit on the edge of the bed. For a second Dawn just looked at the pictures before speaking again "What are you looking at these for?"

"Just thinking about some things," Buffy replied, not wanting to worry her. In an attempt to change the subject she flipped the page, smiling a bit as she looked down at the pictures. A twelve year old Buffy and seven year old Dawn smiled back at her, there mom and dad standing on either side of them. All four were standing in front of a huge tree.

"Do you remember this day?" Buffy asked, glancing over at Dawn as she did so "Dad made us wake up super early to go out on a hike, but it turned out being worth it with some of the views we saw."

"I remember you complaining the whole time because you were supposed to go to a friends house that day and dad said no-"

"Yeah, well I remember you spending the whole time complaining because you were hungry," Buffy replied evenly, smiling a bit as she looked over at her sister.

"I didn't complain the whole time-"

"Neither did I." Buffy rolled her eyes a bit, before looking back at the picture "It would be nice to go back there though, this time without all the complaining."

"Yeah, that would be really cool," Dawn agreed, looking back at the picture again, before back over at Buffy.

"I'll talk to mom about it." For a moment Buffy let herself pretend that it actually could happen. That there were plenty of weekends ahead of them, summer just around the corner, and then they could go on a trip like that. That everything was normal.

There was a soft knock on the door. Buffy glanced up, giving Joyce a small smile, before looking back over at Dawn "See, that's how you knock."

"Whatever," Dawn rolled her eyes in response.

For a moment Joyce just smiled at them, before entering the room "Dawn, could you give me a moment alone with your sister?"

"Yeah, alright," Dawn agreed, pushing herself up to slip off the bed and head towards the door.

 **(Next day)**

"You're acting weirder than normal," Dawn observed, standing in the doorway of Buffy's room.

Buffy turned away from the mirror to look at Dawn instead. For a second she looked annoyed, before her face softened a bit, though she still asked "What do you mean?"

"You're being all moody and you were just staring at yourself in the mirror. Sure you can be full of yourself, but not usually that much," She shrugged slightly "Is it because no one asked you to the dance?"

"No," Buffy admitted, though she only sighed a bit instead of saying anything more.

"Then why are you standing there in a pretty dress looking all sad and stuff?" Dawn challenged, crossing her arms.

Buffy just looked over at her for a long moment, before sighing again "I guess I was trying to pretend for a moment that everything was fine and I was going to the dance."

"You're not going to the dance?" Dawn asked, arms dropping again. She leaned against the door frame, taking Buffy's response as a sign there would be an actual conversation.

"Vampire stuff. Ancient prophecy, big bad, nothing major." Despite her words, Buffy's voice didn't sound enthusiastic or unbothered. She was forcing herself to seem nonchalant about it.

"That's way cooler than a school dance," Dawn decided, both in an attempt to make Buffy feel better and because it _was_ way cooler than going to some stupid dance.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed half heartedly, giving Dawn a small smile as she did so, before adding "It's just sometimes it would be nice to not have to worry about all of that. To just be a normal girl. I guess I was thinking about what could have been."

"You're basically a superhero and you want to give that up to go to a dance?" Dawn couldn't help the way her face screwed up. She could tell that Buffy was being serious, and she wanted to be too, but come on. Fighting vampires was totally worth missing out on some stuff like that.

"Sometimes it would just be nice to not have to worry about that kind of stuff," Buffy looked over ather for a moment, before giving her a small smile "It's complicated Dawnie."

Dawn just looked at her with confusion "I don't get it."

Buffy just looked at Dawn without responding for a few seconds before speaking, her voice surprisingly soft "I hope you never do."

For a moment Dawn wasn't sure what to say, before pulling a face "Alright weirdo, I was just saying that fighting vampires is way cooler than going to a school dance. It's not like there won't be another one next year, right?"

"Right," Buffy seemed to sigh a bit.

Before Dawn could reply Joyce's voice came from down stairs, slightly panicked "Buffy!"

Dawn turned as she heard her mother run up the stairs, stepping into the room so Joyce could enter the doorway as she continued "There's something on the news- Willow-"

"Willow?" Buffy asked, Dawn turning to look at her and seeing slight panic on her sister's face "What happened?"

"The news said some boys from your school- they were killed-" Dawn felt her stomach twist in fear, though it was relieved a second later when Joyce finished the thought "Willow- she found them-"

"I've gotta go," Buffy was already grabbing her coat off her bed, heading towards the door.

"Of course," Joyce stepped out of the way to let Buffy out the door, looking after her as she started down the hallway.

Dawn just looked between them for a moment, before moving past Joyce, hurrying after Buffy. She caught up just as her sister reached the bottom of the stairs "Wait- can I come with? I want to make sure Willow is okay-"

"Dawn," Buffy sighed, turning to look at her, though the annoyance quickly faded away as she looked down at her, seeing how worried Dawn was "I'll make sure Willow calls you to tell you she's alright, but I need you to stay here-"

"But I-"

"Dawn." Buffy sounded a bit more frustrated now, before sighing again, going over to brush hair out of her younger sister's face "Please. Just stay here tonight, and stay safe."

For a moment Dawn just looked up at her "Whatever's happening- it's really bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," Buffy agreed, glancing at the stairs, before looking back at her "I'll make sure Willow calls you. Just promise me you'll be careful tonight, okay?"

"I promise," Dawn nodded, before pushing herself forward to hug Buffy for a moment, before pulling away and adding "You have to promise to be careful to though."

That made Buffy smile a bit, and she nodded "I promise. Now I really have to go-"

"Okay," Dawn nodded, returning the small smile. It was only when Buffy was pulling open the door that she spoke again "Buffy?"

She paused, turning back at Dawn "Yeah?"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

For a moment Buffy just looked over at her, and Dawn was scared she wasn't going to answer. Then there was the small smile again "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."

Then the door was closed, and Buffy was gone.


	4. Halloween Part 1

"It's come as you aren't night." Dawn heard Buffy explain as she slipped around the shelves "The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions."

"Oh, I don't get get wild," Willow replied.

"Gah!"

Dawn jumped behind Buffy, hands raised as if they were claws. Through the slits in the mask she saw Buffy turn, giving her an exasperated look "Remind me why I brought you again?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, lowering her hands "Mom said you had to."

"Right," Buffy muttered, before raising an eyebrow "Is that what you're going with, or are you just spreading germs."

"You're no fun," Dawn replied, but reached up to take the mask off "It's Halloween, you're supposed to mess around and try to scare people."

"She's got a point there Buff," Xander agreed as he came over to the group, making Dawn grin "You can't fault her for trying to scare you on Halloween."

"See, Xander gets it," Dawn was still grinning, looking over at Xander "What are you going to be? I bet it's going to be something super scary."

"Well I appreciate the enthusiasm, this Halloween we are working with a budget," Xander laughed a bit, before pulling a toy gun out of the bag he was holding.

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she looked over at him "That's not a costume."

Xander looked between Willow and Dawn, as if looking for help, before explaining "I've got fatigues from the army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King baby."

Rolling her eyes Buffy looked back oer at Dawn "If you're not going with the mask than go pick something. Everyone else is done, so hurry up."

"You don't have a costume yet-"

Buffy glanced around, before smirking and taking the mask Dawn was still holding "Now I do. Go."

"Whatever," Dawn muttered, but moved past Xander to go look through the store some more.

Everything was so lame. Sure some of the monster costumes were kind of cool, but all of the ones in the price range her mother had given her looked so cheesy. If they weren't realistic enough to actually scare someone, than what was the point?

With disappointment she moved past the monster costumes and to an area that seemed to mostly be filled with realistic costumes. Police officers, nurses, surfer dudes. All boring things, but they did seem to be closer to her price range and didn't look completely ridiculous. She scanned the selection, before her eyes caught on a leather jacket near the back.

An idea formed in Dawn's head, and before she could really think about it she moved forward to grab the jacket, checking the price before breaking into a grin.

* * *

Striking a pose Dawn looked at herself in the mirror. The costume didn't look like much, and when her mother had seen it she had been surprised at the simplicity. Of course, she didn't know what Dawn was really going as. She just thought it was a really lame biker costume. Well, her mom hadn't actually said lame, she had just said biker, but her face was enough to convey the thought.

Dawn didn't really care. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, she knew what she was going as.

"Hey Dawn, could you come in here for a second," Buffy called from the other room. Dawn rolled her eyes, but slipped the stick into her pocket and headed for the door.

As she made her way towards Buffy's room she couldn't help but be suddenly nervous. What if Buffy thought her costume was really stupid? Fortunately Buffy wasn't paying attention when Dawn entered "What?"

"Could you zip up the back of this? Willow will be here any minute and I want to be dressed so I can help her," Buffy explained, motioning towards the zipper at the back of the dress she had bought without looking away from the mirror.

"Sure, no problem," Dawn moved forward, zipping up the dress easily.

It was only once the dress was in place that Buffy finally looked back at her. The quick glance was followed by Buffy turning to face her fully, clearly confused "Why are you dressed- like me?"

"I'm not dressed like you. If I was dressed like you I would be wearing a pink dress and have sunglasses on," Dawn replied, more defensively than she really meant. What if Buffy thought this was stupid? "I'm dressed like the slayer-"

"Which is me," Buffy replied, confused for a moment, than her face softened. Before she could speak Dawn pushed forward.

"Yeah, but I'm not going as you. You wear different close when you go slaying, and that's what I copied-"

"You're going as the slayer," Buffy replied, and there was a smile on her face that made Dawn relax a bit. She didn't think it was stupid. "Dawn- that's really cool."

"Really?" The reply came out before she could stop it, and despite herself Dawn grinned a bit "Cool."

Buffy smiled at her, before raising an eyebrow "What are you telling other people you're going as?"

"Mom thought I was some lame Grease biker rip off or something," Dawn shrugged "I guess that will work."

"Alright," Buffy nodded, looking over at Dawn again. It looked like she was going to say something else, but before she could the doorbell rang. "That's Willow- would you mind going to get the door? I have a feeling stairs aren't going to be a strong point in this dress."

"Neither is walking around for hours trick-or-treating," Dawn teased.

"I'll wear flats under the costume, now go," Buffy rolled her eyes. Dawn just smirked and ducked out to head down the stairs.

* * *

"Alright soldiers, square up," Xander called, making Dawn laugh a bit as she watched the kids scramble to get into place. Going trick or treating was a lot more fun with Xander than it ever would have been with Buffy, and he was even getting candy from people to so she was able to do it without having to worry about him thinking she was just a kid.

"Okay recruits, now I know this house from years in the field. If you cry you will get extra candy," He looked over at Dawn who was standing next to him "Sergeant Summers, can I trust you to take charge of this unit?"

"Yes sir," Dawn nodded, though she couldn't keep back the smile that was on her face.

Turning on her heal she looked back at the kids, though to her surprise they were not in the line Xander had ordered them into. So far they had listened to him, finding the whole comando thing to be a fun game to play. Now though, they were running.

There were roars coming from somewhere, but everything was moving to fast for her to pin anything down. Without thinking she reached out to grab the shoulder of one of the kids Xander was supposed to be looking after. There was a growl, and his head turned to bare sharp monstrous teeth at her.

Letting out a yelp of surprise, Dawn stumbled back and the kid ran off. Turning she grab Xander's arm "What's going on? Do you know where Buffy's supposed to be right now?"

"That's Private Harris to you ma'am," he made a sharp turn that was very un-Xander, his voice loud and commanding but without the humor it had had earlier "You should get inside and lock the door. The last thing we are going to need is innocent girls like you running around in need of protection."

"What? Xander what are you-" Dawn stood up straighter, and immediately her hand reached to check her pocket for the spike hidden there. Her eyes scanned the scene. To many monsters to count, no ideas on what killed any of them. She needed to get to her watcher.

Dawn turned away from Xander, sprinting away from the scene and towards where she knew the information she needed would be. Her watcher would know what to do.


	5. Halloween Part 2

**Halloween Part 2**

"Giles," Dawn pushed through the doors of the library, not surprised to find Giles hunched over a book reading through something, though he looked up when she entered.

"Dawn? What on Earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out- trick-or-treating or whatever it is you kids do on Halloween-"

"Trick-or treating?" Dawn scoffed a bit at that "Please, I'm not a kid Giles. Besides, we have a situation we need to deal with. The streets are crawling with monsters."

"What? But it's Halloween?" Giles said, looking at her with such confusion Dawn rolled her eye.

"I know, and I know monsters don't usually go out on Halloween, but they are out so we have to deal with it," She waved her hands at the books "So look through your books or whatever and tell me what's going on so I can start beating stuff up."

"Excuse me?" To her annoyance Giles looked over at her rather than at the books "You will do no such thing- Buffy would have my head. Where is she anyway? If monsters really are running crazy than she- she should be here."

"Buffy? What has she got to do with this? She'll just get in the way," Dawn shook her head "And of course I'm going to go fight them. God- why are you worrying all of a sudden, it's not like I've never done it before."

"You've never- what does Buffy have to do with this?" Giles reached up to take off his glasses as he looked at Dawn.

Before she could respond Willow was running up to them, somehow having entered without making a sound. "Giles- Dawn, thank god. I was worried when I couldn't find you and Xander was being completely useless-."

"Willow- ah- good. Dawn was just telling me about how- monsters are running everywhere?" Giles looked over at her, cutting off what probably would have been a ramble from Willow.

"They're not monsters. They're kids, who were turned into monsters- everyone's becoming their costumes. Xander is all solidery- and Buffy is acting like a lady from the 1880s," Willow explained, glancing between them.

"Great," Dawn nodded, looking back at Giles "So we know what happened. Let's figure out what is doing it so I can go beat it up till it changes them back."

"You will be doing no such thing. Honestly Dawn, what has gotten into you- you shouldn't even be here-"

"She's Buffy!" Willow exclaimed suddenly, looking Dawn over "Buffy was talking to me before we left- Dawn is dressed like Buffy, so that's who she thinks she is."

"I don't think I'm Buffy," Dawn rolled her eyes at that "Now would you stop looking at me and start looking through books. We have to figure out what's going on before some parent freaks out and attacks their monster kid."

To her annoyance Willow was looking at Giles when she started talking again "She might not be Buffy specifically, but she thinks-"

"That she's the slayer," Giles put his glasses back on as he looked over at Dawn "Of course."

"I don't think I'm the slayer. I _am_ the slayer. Now would you both hurry up and start doing your research stuff so we can figure this out?"

"Right," Giles nodded, and though Willow looked at him in confusion he didn't press on. Instead he just looked back at Willow, taking a moment before asking "So- Buffy is some lady from the 1800s, Xander is a solider- and- um- you are?"

Willow looked down at herself, than back at Giles "A ghost."

"Uh- um- right," He was still looking over at her in confusion "What- uh- sort of ghost exactly?"

She glanced down at herself for a moment, before looking back up at Giles "Hey! This is nothing, you should have seen what Cordelia had on- it was just a leotard with cat things pinned to it. Just ears and a tail and stuff-"

"My word, she turned into an actual feline?"

"What? No," Willow shook her head, before frowning "She was just the same old Cordelia, but in a cat costume."

"She didn't change," Dawn spoke up, glancing between them "That's good than, isn't it? I mean, we know that the spell isn't affecting everyone."

"Well- yes- yes I suppose it is," Giles nodded a bit "We just- we need to figure out why- why it's affecting some and not others."

"Partytown!" Willow exclaimed "She told us she got her costume from Partytown."

"And- and everyone who changed. They acquired their costumes from where?"

"We all got our's at a new place," Willow explained "Ethan's."

A look came over Giles's face that Dawn had never seen before. He glanced between them, before looking back at Willow "Go find the others, keep them safe. I'll take care of this."

"Giles- what's going on?" Willow asked, not moving.

Giles was moving though, heading towards the office to grab his coat "Just trust me. I can handle this. Keep the others safe until I do- Dawn, stay here."

"What?" Dawn looked back at him in disbelief "Why would I do that? People are in danger Giles, I need to be out there and help them."

"Dawn," Willow was the one that spoke, her voice softer than normal "People are turning into their costumes right? Well you were dressed up like the slayer, so that's why you think you're her."

"That's ridiculous," Dawn shook her head.

"Think about it Dawn," Willow insisted "You're eleven, way too young to be chosen. Your stake isn't even a stake, it's just a stick that you sharpened-"

Parts of it did make sense. She was really young to be the slayer, and based on what was happening…

"I- I'm not the slayer?" Dawn hesitantly looked up at Willow.

"No, I'm sorry Dawn, but you're not. Buffy is, she just doesn't remember," Willow gave her a small smile, and looked around when a door slammed. Giles had sprinted out of the library while they weren't paying attention.

Sighing Willow looked back at Dawn "Just promise me you'll stay here. I already have to worry about Lady Buffy and Commando Xander, you need to be safe."

"I-" Dawn hesitated, before sighing and nodding "Yeah, alright."

"Good," Willow gave her a small smile "I'll be back soon, I promise. And hopefully this will all be figured out by than."

"Yeah, whatever," Dawn muttered, leaning back on the table as she watched Willow turn and run through the door.

She waited until she was sure Willow was gone, before pushing herself up to grab weapons and head out as well. She might not be the real slayer, she still wasn't sure on that point, but she did have her abilities. She could still help people, and that's what she was going to do.

* * *

A scream cut through the night. To be fair, there were a lot of screams traveling around at the moment, but Dawn turned towards it. Without thinking she ran towards the sound, ducking into the dark alleyway. There was the sound of fighting, and she turned towards the warehouse it had come from, running inside without thinking.

Coming to a stop she took in the scene in front of her. Demons were scattered around, most holding tight to people near the back. It took a second for her to realize the people they were guarding were Xander, Angel, Cordelia, and Willow. Then her eyes caught on the pink of Buffy's dress, and saw the vampire moving towards her.

Dawn rushed forward, putting herself between the vampire and Buffy, moving into a fighting stance "Going after my sister? Well that's one way to piss me off, I'll give you that."

"What the hell?" He looked over at her with surprise, before smirking a bit "Little sis to the rescue. How cute. Get out of the way Little Bit and let the big kids play."

"What? To scared to go after the slayer so you decided to take on the defenseless Summers?" Dawn shook her head "That's low even for a vampire."

"The slayer?" He actually laughed a bit at that, which just served to annoy Dawn. Enough talking.

She moved forward, ducking as the vampire tried to grab her. That's when the rhythm of battle kicked in. Dawn knew what to do to block his attacks, when to attack herself. This wasn't a normal vampire, he clearly knew what he was doing, but Dawn was holding her own.

Then she wasn't.

The vampire swung and Dawn didn't duck in time. She stumbled back, falling to the ground. The vampire lurched forward, and Dawn just let out a yelp, putting her arms up to try and defend herself, but the vampire easily ripped them a part. Before she could think she called out "Buffy!"

Smirking he looked down at her "Not such big talk now, are you Little Bit? Need big sis to come save you."

"Lucky for her, I'm more than happy to," Buffy's voice came over the vampire's shoulder. A moment later her hand was on his shoulder and she was pushing him back "Xander, Cordelia- get the kids out of here. Dawn, go with them."

Dawn didn't argue, just scrambled to her feet, hurring over to where Xander and Cordelia were trying to calm down the other kids, all in monster masks. A few seconds later they were heading out of the building, waiting in the alley. It was only a few more minutes before Buffy and Angel were following them out.

"Is everyone alright?" Buffy asked, glancing around.

"I think so, but we should probably get these kids back to their parents before they completely freak out," Xander replied, motioning towards the three, one of whom was already crying.

Buffy nodded "Xander, can you and Cordelia handle that? I'll go check in with Giles and W- where is Willow?"

"She just sort of disappeared when the spell ended," Cordelia shrugged, before looking around at everyone's expressions "What? I pay attention sometimes."

"Right," Buffy nodded a bit "Can you guys take Dawn home too once you're done with the kids? Mom should be there."

"Yeah of course, we got it," Xander assured, and for once Dawn didn't argue that she was old enough to get there on her own.

* * *

There was a light knock on the door, and looking up Dawn saw Buffy standing in her doorway, having changed out of the dress and into a pair of pajamas. Turning in her desk chair, Dawn raised an eyebrow "Hey, what's up?"

"Giles told me what happened, all of it," Buffy explained, moving forward to enter the room "Including how you disobeyed his order to stay in the library."

"I'm sorry, I know I should have listened to him- but I couldn't just sit there. People were in trouble, and if I had all the slayers abilities than I had to help them. I couldn't just sit there and…"

"Dawn," Buffy cut in, giving her a small smile as she stopped the rambling "I'm not mad."

"You're not?" Dawn said with confusion "But I disobeyed Mr. Giles and put myself in danger."

"And I wish you hadn't done that, but I get it. You had the power of the slayer, and you couldn't just wait around while people got hurt," Buffy replied "I'm proud of you Dawn."

"You- You are?"

"Of course. And honestly, if you hadn't disobeyed Giles I'm not sure the spell would have broken in time to stop Spike," Buffy shrugged a bit "So thanks."

Dawn blinked a bit in surprise, before grinning as she looked over at Buffy "You're welcome."

"So- did you manage to save any of the candy you were collecting before this all happened?"

"No- but I think there's still some in the bowl downstairs. Unless mom ate it all-"


End file.
